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Rotolight, an award-winning LED lighting firm primarily based within the UK, has just lately launched the $1,399 AEOS 2, a round LED that can be utilized as a continuing video mild in addition to a strobe for nonetheless work and has zero recycle time. As an added bonus, the sunshine encompasses a collection of built-in filters and gels that permit customers to create practically any look and temper possible and a cellular app for controlling and altering settings when the lights are in awkward and precarious positions.
In accordance with the corporate, the AEOS 2 is a major energy improve from its predecessor that gives a flexible and light-weight lighting answer for each video and picture within the studio and on location with battery energy. This model does steady lighting for video and may work as a strobe, with assist for even high-speed sync with 16.7 million colours to play with.
Rotolight has stated the UI for the menus has gotten a whole overhaul which makes it far more streamlined and simple to make use of (which I can affirm) together with a full-color contact display permitting customers to make fast and simple changes as a substitute of fidgeting with the (nonetheless obtainable) dials and buttons on the again of the sunshine.
I believe what impressed me probably the most once I laid eyes on the AEOS 2 for the primary time was the insane quantity of shade (each hue and saturation ranges), digital filters (2,500), particular results, and temperature choices for artistic lighting that it presents. This mild even has a built-in fade possibility for brightening and lowering the sunshine, a “lightning” mode, and a full strobe mild impact full with frequency and depth changes. Actually, it’s most likely sooner to debate the issues the sunshine can not do.
Whereas there are quite a lot of good LED lights in the marketplace for picture and video on the “prosumer” degree, there are only some which are really nice, and the AEOS 2 is amongst that group. This method packs a plethora of superior {and professional} options into an reasonably priced and moveable package deal.
As a word, the cellular app was not obtainable for me to check and assessment through the time I had these lights, nevertheless, primarily based on how straightforward and quick the menu was on the lights themselves, if the app works as marketed I can see it being an ideal addition to the workflow.
Design and Construct High quality
The AEOS 2 LED has a stable and high-quality really feel to its building. At first blush, I acquired the impression it was one thing that I’d see on a film or TV set, and after utilizing it for some time, I’m doubling down on that. Inside just some seconds out of the field, I used to be in a position to navigate by way of the menus to search out all of the settings I wished (and extra) and was in a position to rapidly discover and modify the colour and brightness settings to get really feel for the sunshine. The contact display is vibrant and responsive whereas the ability and management buttons and knobs are sturdy and equally responsive.
The three.1-pound (1.4kg) (or 4.4 kilos with the connected yoke) mild itself feels fairly sturdy. Whereas I wouldn’t throw any piece of substances round carelessly, the AEOS 2 appears stable sufficient that it might stand up to a couple of bumps and drops by way of its lifespan with out ailing impact. There’s a set of aluminum “seize handles” on either side of the rear of the sunshine which make it straightforward to make use of hand-held in addition to serve to permit for exact changes when it’s mounted on a light-weight stand or increase. The sunshine stand system is connected to a “yoke” setup with stress knobs on both aspect for locking the sunshine in place or loosening it as much as make it straightforward to pivot. With the battery indifferent, the sunshine measures 11.5 by 3.14-inches (29.5cm by 8cm) making it one of many extra moveable lights of its energy in the marketplace.
In the event you determine to make use of the sunshine with the 24V 150W Li-ion rechargeable battery, it does add a bit extra weight, however the battery itself is nicely secured through a V-lock system and I wasn’t involved about it by chance falling off. The sunshine does have obtainable modifiers, however the model I had simply had the provided frosted diffuser dome which was greater than enough for my testing.
One other attention-grabbing design characteristic of the AEOS 2 mild is the 4 1/4-20-inch mounting factors alongside the three, six, 9, and 12 o’clock positions on the outer rim of the sunshine. These present a wide range of methods to mount the sunshine and equipment collectively for a plethora of artistic options.
Battery life was spectacular. The AEOS 2 lasted about an hour at full energy in fixed mild mode, nevertheless it didn’t achieve this quietly. I really was shocked by how loud the AEOS 2 cooling followers are. Utilizing an Apple watch to measure the decibel ranges instantly subsequent to each lights, it registered 60 decibels. Standing roughly 10 ft away, the ambient room degree was registering at about 45 decibels.
Mainly, it’s loud; a lot louder than I’d have anticipated and video shooters needs to be conscious that if the AEOS 2 is used at max energy, your room noise goes to be appreciable. It’s loud sufficient that I don’t know that I’d suggest it for video functions. It’s also price noting that the AEOS 2 additionally will get fairly sizzling throughout use. After an hour, it had a floor temperature of over 100 levels.
Options/Settings
The AEOS 2 encompasses a full financial institution of RGBWW (Purple, Inexperienced, Blue, White, and Heat White) lamps that permit for a variety of 16.7 million colours in a package deal that has a 50-degree beam angle. The settings and colours can be found by way of a six-item menu on the again of the sunshine the place yow will discover the correlated shade temperature (CCT) mode for changes in Kelvin, HSI (Hue, Saturation, and Depth), Gels (the place you may entry over 2,500 digital filter results), Flash (for controlling flash energy and speeds/period), Particular Results, and eventually the system settings the place you may management and modify settings just like the WiFi and display brightness. You may make changes to any of those settings utilizing the contact display straight or by way of utilizing the 2 pink dials under the display.
The CCT mode permits for direct changes from 3,000 to 10,000 Kelvin, which helps you to match just about any ambient and current mild supply from daylight to mild bulbs with ease. Dimming might be executed in 0.5% increments all the best way right down to 1%. The HSI mode lets you modify hue, saturation, and depth independently by way of the usage of the cellular app (which, as talked about I didn’t get an opportunity to check), or the contact display and management buttons. You may choose from the two,500 filters within the Filters menu that truly do replicate the colours very precisely — I really in contrast these colours with some official Lee Filter gels I’ve and so they have been spot on.
The White Steadiness vary adjusts from 3,000 to 10,000K, and the corporate says the sunshine registers a most 11,500 Lux in steady mode and 17,500 Lux in Strobe/flash mode (at three ft). Controlling the flash mode might be executed through the app, or by utilizing an Elinchrom Skyport set off (obtainable in Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, and Olympus/Panasonic choices). The sunshine’s technical specification sheet claims an aperture worth at ISO 100/200/400 in steady mode: At three ft: f/13, f/18, f/22 and at 9 ft: f/3.5, f/4.5, f/ 6.3 with shade accuracy of TLCI: 99. From what I examined, these are fairly correct. I’ve used a number of LED strobes over time and I truthfully was not anticipating the extent of energy that this mild was able to placing out. In accordance with Rotolight, the Aeos 2 is 140% extra highly effective in steady mode than its predecessor, and as much as three stops extra highly effective in flash mode.
The high-speed sync (HSS) options of this mild are able to as much as 1/8000 second with no recycle time, making it a really helpful system in practically any motion scenario and even firing in high-speed burst modes. One other few options which are obtainable (however I didn’t get to check totally) are Bluetooth and WiFi (for the cellular apps) that additionally permit for connecting and controlling a number of lights collectively.
On high of this, there are some actually enjoyable SFX choices obtainable for video that embody lightning, strobe, fade, cycle, hearth, TV, gunshot, police, neon, movie, weld, and paparazzi. All of those results would make for some wonderful video setups, particularly when a number of lights are arrange and related collectively for a really surrounded expertise, however the aforementioned fan noise offers me some pause.
Mild High quality and Efficiency
I really feel like this specific LED is without doubt one of the best to make use of and most pleasing to the attention for each video and flash images. Utilizing each a light-weight meter, in-camera, and post-production testing, the white steadiness and shade accuracy from the display to picture may be very very correct with my variance being inside 100 to 200-degrees Kelvin. In flash mode, my testing resulted in a flash energy of about Gn 7 (at ISO 100) if I have been to check it to a Speedlight, nevertheless, the AEOS 2 doesn’t have any recycle time and is a a lot softer and extra even mild than one would get utilizing a conventional on-camera-flash.
Pairing it with the Rotolight NEO 3, which can be new and up to date equally, I used to be in a position to create some attention-grabbing combos. Whereas the ability doesn’t lead to what I’d name super-bright mild (on battery mode no less than), the system continues to be highly effective sufficient to work within the solar as a key mild in addition to a fill.
What I used to be notably keen on was the softness of the sunshine utilizing nothing however the included diffuser cowl. The unfold of the LED was even sufficient that there was no “sizzling spot” on my topics and the falloff was fairly easy even with out the usage of flags, scrims, or extra modifiers to manage the unfold.
A Enjoyable Mild That Helps Creativity
The AEOS 2 presents a stable mild output in each fixed and flash modes for many on a regular basis picture and video work, that includes a really sturdy and moveable design that ensures straightforward storage and journey entry. Whereas there are different specialised lights that may provide extra energy or extra particular options, this panel is definitely a helpful jack-of-all-trades that I actually admire. The complete shade touchscreen makes all of the instruments and settings simply and rapidly accessible, and the cellular app will make these instruments even simpler to entry and management throughout a number of models as soon as it’s obtainable within the coming weeks.
The one factor protecting the system down are the excessive ranges of noise which are generated from the cooling followers and a really minor inconsistency with the white steadiness. Whereas I’m not certain what might be executed in regards to the fan wanting utilizing a special provider for that half, it’s doable a future firmware replace can alleviate any of the accuracy points customers might encounter.
In the event you can look previous these two points, there’s a lot to love right here. After spending a while diving again into product images over the pandemic, I can see a large worth in having these lights to do product work from home, not to mention the worth in utilizing them for video tasks and colourful artistic portraits.
Are There Alternate options?
Technically talking there are literally fairly a couple of alternate options obtainable for the $1,399 AEOS 2, nevertheless, not one of the competitors appears to have the ability to match the ability and shade choices per greenback of this mild. Related merchandise embody the $2,250 Litepanel Gemini RGBWW LED, the $1,699 Aputure Nova P300C LED delicate mild panel, the $767 Stella Professional Reflex S (which doesn’t have any shade choices), and the $3,999 Rotolight Titan X1 Cinematic. Whereas these lights all do comparable issues, the AEOS 2 appears to supply probably the most energy, options, and features per greenback in comparison with the remaining. Granted the costlier lights can do wonderful issues, however that’s probably not within the funds for many basic prosumer shooters.
Ought to You Purchase It?
Sure. If you’re a photographer that values artistic instruments and needs to experiment with vibrant and colourful work, the AEOS 2 is nicely well worth the funding.
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